<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Good Morning California! by Legion2000</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26896987">Good Morning California!</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Legion2000/pseuds/Legion2000'>Legion2000</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fallout (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Action, Adventure, Apocalypse, Baja - Freeform, Brotherhood of Steel (Fallout), General Fanfiction, Military, Mutants, NCR | New California Republic, Nuclear, Raiders, Ranger Squad - Freeform, SOLDIER - Freeform, War, War Story, West Coast, genfic, no ships, post apocalyptic, radiation, tribes, warfare</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 01:41:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,956</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26896987</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Legion2000/pseuds/Legion2000</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The year is 2272, decades after the start of the NCR-Brotherhood War. The massacres caused by Brotherhood Forces and injustices inflicted by NCR Troops may have come to an end, but the conflict still continues. Particularly in Baja.</p><p>Bryce McMullen has been promoted to a Veteran Ranger at the age of thirty-two, and has recently been assigned to the 704th Ranger Squad. He has been deployed into the inhospitable wastes of Baja to deal with the Brotherhood infection plaguing the region. At first it seems like a simple elimination mission, but after Tijuana, Baja might be the next Vietnam.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Good Morning California!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a crosspost from Fanfiction.Net where it will be updated early. All credit goes to Herms (Not an AO3 user) for the protagonist. </p><p>FFN Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13715148/1/Good-Morning-California-Baja</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>YES I'M REWRITING THIS WHOLE STORY FOR ANOTHER BLOODY TIME. BUT FOURTH TIME'S THE CHARM AM I RIGHT? </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>FOR NEW READERS WHO HAVEN'T SEEN THE JOKES OF INCARNATIONS I'VE WRITTEN, ALL CREDIT GOES TO HERMS FOR THE PROTAGONIST I DON'T OWN THIS OC AT ALL BUT ALL OTHER OC I DO OWN.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>PLUS THIS IS A PREQUEL TO THE STORY WAR NEVER CHANGES, DOESN'T HAVE TO BE IF YOU DON'T WANT IT TO COS... WELL IT'S A DUMB CROSSOVER.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>SORRY IF THIS SUCKS.</strong>
</p><hr/><p>Gah!</p><p>Huh? What? Where?</p><p>Was I dead?</p><p>My mind stammered a hundred bewildered thoughts each second. The words were like a machine gun, continuing rounds for minutes on end. Questions, worries, plain nonsense, all circling around my brain.</p><p>"Alright, Bryce. Take a deep breath, you're a sniper in the Rangers, it's what you do best," I thought to myself.</p><p>I took a deep sigh, the voice was right, I was a Ranger, I could get through this.</p><p>It didn't take long for me to get my thoughts straight, that was one of the perks being a sniper. Your own mental state is controllable, shielded you from distractions, made your entire personal operation a cakewalk.</p><p>Slowly opened my eyes, trying to get an analysation of the current situation. Last thing I remembered I was with Commander Devon and the rest of my squad. We were... was it Tijuana? Yeah, we were, trying to deal with possible Brotherhood terrorists in the area. Next thing I knew it all went black. Now I was in this situation, unfortunately crushed under a pile of rubble. Could have been worse, I might have gotten myself paralysed.</p><p>Once my eyelids fully extended, it seemed my riot helmet's visor had a crack the size of a deathclaw's (Yes, I've seen one do not question it). Dammit, these things weren't cheap. It's going to cost a lot just to repair them. Well, there went my heat seeking and night vision. Those would have been useful for this time, it was what, two in the morning?</p><p>At least the radio worked, though.</p><p>I wiggled my right arm out from the rubble. Almost there, gah! There we go!</p><p>Using the one free limb I had I turned on the helmet radio, "This is Veteran Ranger Bryce McMullen of the 704th Veteran Ranger Platoon. Are there any NCR personnel out there? I rep-"</p><p>I stopped my transmission once the sound of heavy metal footsteps drew near, paralysing my voice and all other actions. Christ, this was just what I needed! Worst of all I had no weapon, even if I did I'd be dead within seconds against someone in a full set of Power Armour wearing just some old riot gear.</p><p>"This a good place to dump the bodies?" A voice asked.</p><p>"We're in a f*cking warzone, where aren't there a good place to dump the bodies?" Another responded.</p><p>"Just dump the New Californians will you?" A rough respected voice finally ordered. Son of a bitch, it was the Brotherhood.</p><p>"Affirmative, Paladin," the first two said in unison, before they threw a handful of corpses onto the sand. My eyes widened in horror, the corpses were NCR soldiers, bloodied up, skinned, some of them even had themselves beheaded or had their eyes chewed out. Almost vomited at the sight, and that was coming from someone who personally blew people's heads off.</p><p>How long was I out for? Last I remembered this city was pretty much occupied fully by the Republic, so when did it come to this? When did we go from a full fighting force to the same status of the overall Brotherhood this side of the continent? Once again my head was plagued with questions.</p><p>But one question stood out of the whole swarm: how the hell will I get out of here?</p><hr/><p>
  <em>Seven</em>
  <em> hours earlier...</em>
</p><p>"What do you see, McMullen?" Devon asked me as I stared through the scope of my sniper rifle on the streets below, standing from one of the tall hotels. It was the same things we saw every other day: poor locals suffering their daily lives, a tribesman or two seeking reasons for their meaningless existence, occasionally a poor individual getting violated by a gang of thugs. If we were to annex this city we'll need to deal with these problems, quickly. But knowing the NCR, it will take a while before they even bother with the local's basic needs.</p><p>Sometimes I questioned why I ran from New Reno from the luxury of my Brahmin Baron Family to fighting hell each day, maybe I was just tired of the life of Vice and Sin. I had everything I wanted back there</p><p>"Same old stuff, sir," I replied in an Oceanic accent, by that I meant I sounded like someone from Australia or possibly New Zealand. Didn't exactly know what it was, my family never bothered with our history from before the war. At least we kept our accent.</p><p>I glanced up at my commanding officer, he was a tall man, about six foot five, equipped in the well-honoured Elite Riot Gear along with a pre-war carbine in pristine conditioned slung over his back and a dark, gold engraved revolver on his side. Plus, he had a Pip-Boy on his wrist too, told it was like a family heirloom or something like that. The perfect qualifications for the title 'Desert Reaper', it's what he was known as across the whole branch. Though behind his name was a man in his forties, trying to support him wife and children back home in Redding.</p><p>Devon looked at his Pip-Boy, "We can cross this area of the map off then. Radio the others that this area's clear." He then glanced in a different direction, just at the alleyway below. "Hold up, McMullen, in the alleyway. Check that out."</p><p>I zoomed in on the alleyway, hoping to at least find something. We've been through twelve areas since we were stationed here, and the day was just about to die out like every other. Maybe those reports we were given were merely an error, maybe there weren't any Brotherhood forces here.</p><p>I was wrong.</p><p>There was a soldier peering from the alleyway, he looked to be in the Recon Armour worn by most Brotherhood members. Armed with a rusted laser pistol, he was ready for action. There weren't any sign of his comrades in the area, so I assumed he was a scout of sorts. Maybe he was checking the area to see if anything's changed. That's what I liked about this mission, we pretended that our presence here was minimal, when in reality we were ready to blow their arses. It was as the famous General Sun Tzu said, "Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak."</p><p>"One Brotherhood soldier in Recon Armour, hardly armed, looks like a scout or something," I reported, just before he reverted back to his unknown original position. "Damn, he's gone."</p><p>"I see," said Devon before turning on the radio, "There's a hostile scout in the alleyway just across the street. Approach with caution, he may not be alone."</p><p>Damn, maybe they were using our strategy too. Appearing weak when strong. For all we knew they could have had an army or something in the city's sewer system, then again they have been pretty weak since we wrecked them in Lost Hills. I still remembered that day, platoons of good men and women died there as the capital of the entire West Coast chapter neared its end. It may have not ended the war there but now they're basically the Vietcong except weaker and equipped in Power Armour. Only difference between this war and Vietnam was the fact that these are familiar lands and not some endless rainforest in Indochina.</p><p><em>"Affirmative," </em>Zheng, Heavy and Williams replied on the radio. I sighted them treading over the cracked street, had to be honest, when I got promoted I expected to be part of a larger Veteran Ranger squad. But I understood why, there weren't many who went by our rankings. Nevertheless, I was satisfied with my assigned squad.</p><p>There was Bao Zheng, pretty much our tech expert from Shi. Always came up with amazing gadgets that could bring a small Enclave base to its knees. A great ally when fighting against a faction filled with Techno-Fetishists. Though I do question his methods with a shocksword as his preferred weapon, maybe keeping his heritage alive, huh?</p><p>Next was Carrie Williams, our Ghoul medic from Toronto, Canada. A medical student before the war, moved to California before the bombs dropped too. Seemed to prefer close quarters combat with her shotgun, deadly with it too. Guess those mutations brought out the worst in her. Well, worse for raiders, better for us.</p><p>Finally, we had Heavy. Our support trooper. This guy was... more or less a special case. Turned out the guy was a Super Mutant - first generation, fought in the Master's army during the days when NCR was just the lowly village of Shady Sands. I had a bit of suspicion of him when I first joined. But knowing him more, Heavy was actually an intelligent being, about as nice as a talking Deathclaw (Yes, they exist). Yet he could crush Power Armour helmets into Pizza toppings. Brute in combat, heart of gold.</p><p>"I'm heading down with the others. McMullen, position yourself to a better location, make sure you have a full view of the alleyway," Devon ordered. I nodded, and darted to an alternative location.</p><p>I set up my bipod, pointing my rifle below. The narrow sandwiched alleyway was like any other waste of infrastructure; centuries old bin bags still intact as they rested in the dumpsters consumed by rust. Two four-storey buildings squashed the area on the side. On the left was probably a bakery of sort, having a sign that said 'Panadería Tijuana', didn't know what it meant, but it had pictures of bread so that's what I assumed it was. And on the right was a run-down apartment, windows boarded up like always. Actually, I'm pretty sure that was like that before the war.</p><p>Only one thing caught my eye there, the manhole placed in the centre. Looked pretty recent that it closed. No doubt that the scout from earlier swooped down there. Was there like an underground operation going on? Were the Brotherhood using the sewers like the Củ Chi tunnels used by the Vietcong? So many questions.</p><p>"There's a manhole in the alleyway, our scout's probably gone down there," I reported zooming in. My comrades below took cover to the sides, only peering into the alleyway. Wasn't long before Devon joined up with them.</p><p><em>"I don't see any hostiles with my Pip-Boy. Nothing on heat sensors either. Safe to assume the area's clear, move in,"</em> the commander ordered. They tread lightly into the narrow territory, watching all their directions.</p><p><em>"I don't like this, not one bit,"</em> Zheng remarked with an uneasy tone, in response he placed his sidearm, a laser pistol, ready to fire.</p><p><em>"You sure this isn't a trap or somethin'?" </em>Heavy asked.</p><p><em>"Trust me, I know a trap when I see 'em, and the architecture of this place just doesn't seem right</em><em>," </em>Williams observed.</p><p><em>"No, Williams. Heavy does have a point, the Brotherhood have been using guerrilla tactics lately. If I'm not wrong they're quite similar to the ones used by the Northerners back in Vietnam, how do you think they won the war all those centuries ago?"</em> Devon stated.</p><p>"Sir, they might be setting up shop below, if you know what I mean," I said.</p><p>
  <em>"Yeah I can tell that. You know out east in the capital wasteland, the suffering inhabitants are forced to use the metro and sewer system to get around the ruins. And there's God knows what down there. My point is these sewers are bound to be dangerous. So watch for any threats."</em>
</p><p>I sighted Williams pull open the manhole, it was a bit heavy for her but she managed it in the end. A grenade was thrown into the manhole, hoping to incapacitate or even exterminate any hostiles. They sent Zheng in first, eventually radioing the all clear.</p><p>But there was hesitation from the others before they jump in. It wasn't long before Zheng cursed in his , <em>"</em>Wángbā dàn! Zhè shì yīgè xiànjǐng! It's a trap!"</p><p>All of a sudden, explosions went off down below, forcing a mini-earthquake. Dammit! They knew we were coming! Wasn't long before it spread to the buildings that sandwiched the alleyway, the flames incinerated the structure, bringing everything around us crashing down. My comrades below scattered in all directions trying to escape the explosions. That was the last I ever saw of them that day. Unfortunately, it turned out there were hidden explosives in the hotel I positioned in. The same annihilating flames flooded in from behind me, forcing me to jump out the window. Yet this time it wasn't the flames that continued to follow me, it was the building itself.</p><p>My eyes widened in horror once it squished me before I even pricked the ground.</p><p>There I laid.</p><p>Unconscious and lost.</p><hr/><p>More eternal minutes passed since I woke up, the area was more or less a dumping ground for NCR corpses. The bodies piled about as high as a merchant's small kiosk, it was basically hell on Earth for our people.</p><p>A new batch of corpses were thrown onto the ground, only they weren't all corpses. One of the dead men were still alive. She tilted her head with all his energy just as he noticed me, her dark eyes stared at my helmet, begging for help. She looked like she was just assigned here, first day on the job. Kind of reminded me of my early days in the army, fighting in hell every day. She was quite young too, like she left her adolescence years.</p><p>Her brutal injuries didn't stop her from moaning in pain, alerting the unsighted hostiles nearby.</p><p>"Hey, there's still one alive!" They shouted, heavily treading to our positions.</p><p>Now her eyes lusted for help. I gestured my hands to make her shut up, but the moans still continued.</p><p>"Looks like this one just couldn't accept her fate," another said, closer this time. They pulled the trigger of what sounded like an assault rifle, but nothing came out.</p><p>"What? You out of ammo?"</p><p>"Uhh... no it's fine. I think it's jammed."</p><p>I heard the sound of a face palm, "Pull the bolt you idiot!"</p><p>Jesus Christ, I knew the Brotherhood had under experienced troops but I didn't think they'd be this... idiotic.</p><p>"Ah... which is the bolt?"</p><p>I facepalmed.</p><p>"Never mind, I got it," the hostile soldier finally put the suffering NCR soldier out of her misery as a burst of rifle fire kicked her unworthy soul out of her body. Jesus Christ, I've seen massacres but this just peaked the point of cruelty. Her lifeless eyes stared at my helmet, as if uttering the words, 'Where were you?' Before releasing their final breath.</p><p><em>"Hey, Bryce? You there?" </em>A deep voice came on the radio, it was Heavy.</p><p>"Not the time," I whispered.</p><p>"Thank Tandi you're alive, I have eyes on your position. Stay calm, I'm getting you out of there."</p><p>At that moment, an orchestra of bullets began to fly over my head. Gunning down the nearby enemies as if they were bowling pins. Did this all come from the mutie's machine gun? No, from my observations it looked like he had support.</p><p>Heavy jumped down onto the ground and used all his energy to rip the pile of rubble off my arse. I took his hand as he pulled me up. Three friendly soldiers joined our side including what seemed to be a mercenary of sorts.</p><p>"I see you've formed a posse," I remarked, "Mind giving me an update on what the hell just happened while I was out?"</p><p>"The Brotherhood rigged the area to explode once Zheng went into the tunnels. It was like an alarm that proved to them that the NCR had finally shown up. Actually it wasn't just our area, it was the major strategic points of this part of the city. Steelies climbed out of their whole with pretty much a whole army, including some of the locals," certainly explained some of the soldiers' stupidity, "Now we're in a huge warzone. And we're losing."</p><p>As he said that, a flaming vertibird coincidentally span over our heads, crashing into one of the collapsed buildings. Yep, this was a warzone.</p><p>"What about the others? You get into contact with them?"</p><p>"I was just heading towards Williams and Devon's location before I stumbled across you and this..." he observed the small hill of corpses, "Christ, if the steelies keep this up the propaganda posters won't be an absurd exaggeration. Where was I? Oh right. According to the commander Zheng's signal still exists, so he's not KIA yet."</p><p>"Who the hell would survive that?!" I pointed out the destruction around us.</p><p>"Many of us survived!" One of the soldiers said picking the holotags from his dead comrades. Ironic what he said. Still felt bad for him though, he stared at one of the dead men for a whole minute, must've been close to him. I didn't comment though.</p><p>"He's right. Right now we need to regroup and wait for further orders from command," said Heavy.</p><p>I glared at the mercenary looking guy, "You mind telling me what you are?"</p><p>"I'm a guard for the Crimson Caravan, my caravan crew got killed during the explosions."</p><p>"My condolences."</p><p>"Don't worry about it, I was a week from retirement anyway. The name's David by the way."</p><p>"Ranger Bryce McMullen."</p><p>"All right, we don't have time to chitter chatter. Our orders were clear, let's move," Heavy ordered. He may have not been my commanding officer but I obeyed nonetheless.</p><hr/><p>We moved through the collapsed districts. Bloody hell, there were Brotherhood forces around every corner we turned, stealth was the best we could do on our path. But when you have two traumatised soldiers and a super mutant with you, it's pretty hard to get by.</p><p>Gunfights broke out near us all the time, yet every time we ran to support our comrades, we found that they wound up dead each time. We sort of got lucky when we found some survivors, yet in the battle we lost two of our allies at the same time. Poor guys, they were just fresh recruits too. It was just me, Heavy, and the Caravan Guard David remaining.</p><p>I held the holotags of the dead men in my hands, I didn't really have any connection with them, but their deaths weren't worth it. It's weird when in war, you are dumped onto the battlefield along with dozens of other strangers. Each with their own stories, kin, lives. And you just see them all wasted within a matter of seconds. I'm not exactly religious, but I like to think they're in a better place.</p><p>"Over here!" The rough voice of a ghoul called out. I jerked to my right to find a waving silhouette standing in the exposed room of a ripped apartment.</p><p>"Williams, that you?!" Heavy responded, loosening the grip of his machine gun.</p><p>"Yeah it's me! Hurry up before the steelies notice our asses!"</p><p>We darted towards the apartment building, but just before I even stepped inside, the barrel of an assault rifle was waved in front of my face. The wielder of the weapon, an NCR trooper seemingly scarred on the face. I saw his astonished reaction once he realised I was a Ranger, he just pissed himself thinking I was going to kick his arse.</p><p>"Oh God... I am so sorry!" He begged.</p><p>"Relax, it's not like we're all on a strict sunshine and rainbows protocol," I said. David passed by and leaned on a wall. I had a feeling that this was pretty much the end of our small journey with him. "Where's Ranger Devon?"</p><p>The soldier hesitated, "Oh... I uhhh... he's... he's upstairs on the third floor."</p><p>"Right, thank you..." I didn't catch his rank.</p><p>"Oh uh Private Kowalski, sir."</p><p>"Right, thank you private," I finished before heading inside.</p><p>The wounded were scattered all over the place, being treated by the few medics we had. One of the soldiers rocked back and forth behind his knees, traumatised by the recent hours. Others guarded in fear of a surprise attack, with the defences limited to infantry only; no sandbags, no turrets, no reinforcements. It was hopeless here.</p><p>Around me and Heavy, multiple comments of relief were uttered. Things like "More Rangers?" "Rangers? Hell yes, we're saved!" "Thank God the cavalry's here!"</p><p>I might've been a vet, but at this point I had no clue if we were going to live up to their expectations.</p><p>The both of us finally regrouped with the rest of our squad once we arrived upstairs into a large open room. Williams stood by the window, peering outside for any hostiles. And Devon crouched, working with the mobile radio and connecting his pip-boy to it.</p><p>"Stupid piece of... gah! Dammit!" Devon cursed, banging on the radio, "We need to get Zheng back as soon as possible!"</p><p>"You having some trouble, sir?" Heavy asked.</p><p>"Told you they were coming," Williams said to Devon.</p><p>The commander took a deep breath, reverting himself back into a calmer state, "Well I'm glad you two are alive. As you can see we're in some deep sh*t right now."</p><p>"And the floor's made of floor," I joked in a serious tone, "Do you mind giving us a briefing on the current situation?</p><p>"I'm trying to contact command, hoping to get some extra reinforcements or perhaps an extraction from the area. Problem is that the damn radio signal can only stretch less than seven miles. If Zheng were here then he'd be able to boost this thing and contact extraction. Or at least our coordinates. But we need Zheng for this."</p><p>"The NCR should already know about the catastrophe by now, shouldn't we just wait for them? Besides, we should have organised forces just on the border of this part of the city."</p><p>"Oh come on! You really expect our superiors to bother with us?! Besides, they most likely think we're all dead," Williams cried.</p><p>"Carrie has a point, our General is Lee Oliver. Knowing him, he has a history of throwing lives for better results," Heavy added.</p><p>"We're going off topic. Our main focus is locating Bao. According to my Pip-Boy, his vitals are still intact, but his position is unknown. Once we're ready, we'll enter the sewers and extract him. Then we'll have a better chance at getting us and the rest of our people out of here," Devon stated, "What will happen after that I have no clue. Only time will reveal it all."</p><p>"Affirmative, when exactly do we leave?"</p><p>Williams looked out the window, "As far as I know we can leave within the next few hours. So you can rest up an resupply, but please consider your options when you do. Our ammo wouldn't last a firefight and our meds can hardly treat everyone in this building."</p><p>I nodded, letting them excuse my leave as I went down to resupply. After knowing our situation, the thought of the Veteran Ranger expectations popped back into my mind. Many here were relying on our four-man squad. Usually, vets like us could take down a whole platoon single handedly, but with our short supplies and morale I didn't know at this point. But that's life isn't it? Unexpected events all mashed together.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>